An interesting caterpillar discovery found by one of TCH kids on a nature walk at their house.
Can you try to find one of these by your house?
Read 👇🏾 to see what we discovered about this interesting creature! “The caterpillar in the photo above is an Ilia Underwing (Catocala Ilia). Ilia was a daughter of King Priam, the last king of ancient Troy. She was hauled off to Crete after the defeat of Troy and is the subject of an opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Idomeneo. Catocala (pronounced, kah-TOCK-uh-lah, at least by some) is supposedly from the Greek kato meaning down, under or below and kalos meaning attractively good or beautiful.
This particular underwing caterpillar is a master of disguise. It’s found on oak trees, and can be the color of the bark of the tree or, less frequently, the color of the lichen that grows on the tree. The one in the photo looks very much like lichen.”
